The Blind SideTrue Story: What the Movie Did (and Didn’t) Get Right About Michael Oher’s Life with the Tuohys

Mar. 15, 2025

Left: Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock in ‘The Blind Side’. Right: Michael Oher stands with his family during senior ceremonies prior to a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 28, 2008.Photo:Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock ; Matthew Sharpe/Getty

Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock ; Matthew Sharpe/Getty

“It’s hard to describe my reaction," Oher toldThe New York Times Magazineof watching the movie. “It seemed kind of funny to me, to tell you the truth, like it was a comedy about someone else. It didn’t register.”

The Blind Sidebrought in over $300 million at the box office and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.Sandra Bullocktook home the Oscar for Best Actressfor her portrayalof Leigh Anne Tuohy, the family matriarch.

The film became the subject of controversy 14 years after its release when Oher alleged in an August 2023legal filingthat the story was largely false and claimed that Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy lied about adopting him, instead placing him into a conservatorship, while profiting off of his name and likeness.

Here is everything to know about the true story ofThe Blind Sideand what really happened to Michael Oher and the Tuohy family off-screen.

Who is Michael Oher?

Michael Oher blocks at the line during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on November 15, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee.Wesley Hitt/Getty

Wesley Hitt/Getty

Oher was born in Memphis, Tenn., on May 28, 1986, to Denise Oher and Michael Jerome Williams. He was one of 12 children and bounced between foster homes from the age of 7. His mother struggled with drug addiction, and his father died when Oher was a child.

“I’m still traumatizedand I still deal with things that I dealt with as a kid,” Oher told PEOPLE about his early childhood in March 2021.

Oher first met the Tuohy family when he was a student at Briarcrest Christian School in Eads, Tenn. According to his 2023 legal filings, the former NFL player claims that the Tuohys were one of the families he would “occasionally” stay with as he did not have a permanent home. In the summer of 2004, the Tuohys officially invited him to move in.

In an August 2024 interview withThe New York Times Magazine, his first since filing his lawsuit against the Tuohys, Oher explained some of the positives of living with his former caretakers.

“Honestly, it was great,” he said of the family’s support, which included clothing and tutoring help. “I had a bed to stay on. I was eating good. They got me a truck.”

Oher continued, “The first time I heard ‘I love you,’ it was Sean and Leigh Anne [Tuohy] saying it. When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable. You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling.”

Who are the Tuohys?

The family the film is based on Collins Tuohy, Sean Tuohy Jr. Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy attend the premiere of “The Blind Side” at the Ziegfeld Theatre on November 17, 2009 in New York City.Stephen Lovekin/Getty

Stephen Lovekin/Getty

The Tuohy family consists of father Sean, mother Leigh Anne, daughter Collins and son Sean Jr., nicknamed S.J.

WhileTim McGrawtook on the role of Sean inThe Blind Side, the real-life Sean was raised in New Orleans, La. and attended the University of Mississippi where he met his college sweetheart and future wife Leigh Anne. The couple married in 1982.

With Sean, she publishedIn a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Givingin 2010 and also founded The Making it Happen Foundation which “promotes awareness, provides help, and seeks to improve the standard of living for all the children fighting to survive in the invisible cracks in society,” per Leigh Anne’s website.

She married Cannon Smith, brother of one of the producers ofThe Blind Side, in 2016. Oher was in attendance for the special day, where he walked Leigh Anne down the aisle with S.J.

He went on to earn a master’s degree at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was on the football team. S.J. has also received a doctorate from the business school at Liberty University.

Accordingto his LinkedIn, he currently serves as the executive director at The Kingdom NIL and also serves on the board of his family’s foundation.

IsThe Blind Sidea true story?

Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock in ‘The Blind Side’.Warner Br/Everett/Shutterstock

Warner Br/Everett/Shutterstock

The Blind Sideoffers viewers a dramatized version of Oher’s life. Two aspects of the movie that Oher has said are not accurate portrayals of his real experiences are his football skill level and education.

“I felt like it portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it,”he wrotein his 2011 bookI Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond.

Oher also shared that his “main hang-up with the film” was being made to look as if he did not have any prior football knowledge before spending time with the Tuohy family. “Quinton Aaron did a great job acting the part, but I could not figure out why the director chose to show me as someone who had to be taught the game of football,” Oher said.

He added, “Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scenes thinking, ‘No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying — really studying — the game since I was a kid!’ That was my main hang-up with the film.”

In his August 2024 interview withThe New York Times Magazine, Oher opened up about how the film affected his life after its release.

“The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” he said. “I started seeing stuff that I’m dumb. I’m stupid. Every article about me mentioned ‘The Blind Side,’ like it was part of my name.”

Oher added, “That’s my heartbreak right there … It was as soon as I got there, I was defined.”

Where is Michael Oher now?

Michael Oher with his family.Michael Oher Instagram

Michael Oher Instagram

After graduating in 2005 from Briarcrest Christian School, he went on to play football at the University of Mississippi, Leigh Anne and Sean’s alma mater. He graduated from Ole Miss in 2009 with a degree in criminal justice.

The athlete then signed a four-year contract with the Tennessee Titans in March 2014 but was placed on injured reserve in December and released in February 2015. He signed with the Carolina Panthers in March 2015 and officially retired from football in 2017.

As for his life off the field, Oher releasedI Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond, which became aNew York Timesbest-seller, in 2011.His second book,When Your Back’s Against the Wall, was released in August 2023.

Oher and Tiffany Roy, his college sweetheart,tied the knotin November 2022 after 17 years together. The couple’sfour children, sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naivi, were in attendance for the nuptials. The Tuohy family was not present at the wedding.

What legal claims has Michael Oher made against the Tuohy family?

Michael Oher #73 of the Carolina Panthers celebrates with his family after the NFC Championship Game against the Arizona Cardinals at Bank Of America Stadium.Scott Cunningham/Getty

Scott Cunningham/Getty

On Aug. 14, 2023, Oher filed a legal petition to terminate the Tuohy’sconservatorship over him, which he alleges has allowed Leigh Anne and Sean to make millions off his name. In the filing, Oher claimed that when he thought he was being adopted at age 18, the Tuohy family was actually filing documents to become his conservators.

Oher also alleged in the petition that the Tuohys, including Collins and S.J., were paid $225,000 forThe Blind Sideplus 2.5% of the film’s proceeds, leaving him out of the deal.

In their 2010 book,In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, the Tuohys alleged that the profits were split “five ways,” perESPN.

Oher released a statement a day after the filing saying, “This is a difficult situationfor my family and me. I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment.”

The former NFL player’s petition to have hisconservatorship terminated was swiftly granted. However, court filings from the Tuohy’s made in November alleged thatOher received a payoutfrom the family of $138,000 over a period of 16 years, with the most recent payment of $8,480.10 arriving in April 2023.

In December of that year, in a legal filing,the couple shared screenshotsof Oher allegedly asking for upwards of $10 million — Oher did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment and the case is still ongoing.

In August 2024, Oher gave his first interview since his filing in 2023 and opened up about the effects of being portrayed inThe Blind Side. “I want to be the person I was beforeThe Blind Side, personality-wise,” he said. “I’m still working on it.”

source: people.com